Dirty DNA (G Street Chronicles Presents) (15 page)

I turned and walked quickly and as quietly
as I had come, taking the paper with me. Tears were streaming down
my face and I was fueled by fear. I was able to compose myself long
enough to grab my purse up off of the table and leave Corrine’s
tomb. As soon as I got out of those pissy hallways and got to the
safety of my car, I threw up. I sat there in a daze for several
minutes before I collected myself enough to drive. I pulled away
from the curb and headed to Cap Citi Studios. I don’t know what
made me go there, but it was closer than going home in case someone
had seen me. Someone had definitely meant for me to get the
message. Someone was gunning for me, and I had no idea who it was.
Someone had been causing problems for Daddy, and now someone was
after me. The day had started out fucked up, and it seemed as if it
was going to get much worse. I called Dread on the number he had
given me as his cell because I sure wasn’t going to call the
studio. I don’t know what made me trust him, but at that point
there was no one else to call close by. I silently prayed that he
would answer. After the third ring, I was expecting an automated
voice to tell me to leave a message.

“Wassup shawty?” He answered. Thank God he
answered.

“Can I meet up with you somewhere? I know
you have a show tonight, but I need somewhere to get my mind right
for a second. You are still on the Southside; right?

“Yeah, what’s going on? You aight?” He asked
concerned.

“Yes, I’ll explain when I get there.” I
answered.

After he gave me the address, I started in
the direction of the address. When I pulled up, I noticed Dread was
out front with some youngins. I found a parking space and shut down
the engine of the car. Before stepping out, I surveyed my
surroundings. The neighborhood he had led me to wasn’t the safest.
The parking lot was straight out of a bad nightmare. Although my
whole life was dedicated to creating neighborhoods like the one I
was looking at, I still couldn’t get used to fucked up hood living.
There were people all over the place. Mainly niggas looking to get
high or niggas trying to get money. Either way, I wasn’t sure if I
wanted to leave the safety of my car. While I was contemplating
just driving off, Dread tapped on the window. I almost jumped out
of my skin.

“Are you just gonna’ sit in the car, or are
you gonna get out and tell me to what I owe the honor?”

I grabbed my bag because Chase was chilling
in the bottom and I wasn’t about to go anywhere without her. I
opened my door and checked out my surroundings and decided that if
someone was gonna get me they certainly weren’t going to do it in
broad daylight where there were about fifty people milling around.
But then again, when shit went down in the hood, ain’t nobody see
shit. That was bonafide hood rules. You either lived by them or
died by them. Once I got out, Dread led me down a long walk way
that ended in a courtyard with a cluster of apartments towering
over it. We got to a security door that was anything but secure. We
walked in and up to the third floor. When he opened his apartment
door, it was a typical male’s home. It was neat, but you could tell
when a woman wasn’t in the equation. For some reason, that made me
feel relieved. I found a seat near the window so I could keep an
eye on my car and anyone who got near it.

“You aight over there? You sounded like you
had some serious shit going on. You almost made me afraid to give
you the address.” He chuckled.

“You got a roll up?” I asked after digging
in my bag and retrieving some of the Loud I had in my Louie.

I guess he was shocked to see a chick that
came prepared. If me smoking was shocking, then what would he do if
he found out why I really came to his house? He passed me a
cigarillo and just stared at me like he was trying to put together
the pieces of a puzzle. After what felt like forever, he spoke.

“So what brought you to me today? I would
have thought you were out shopping for tonight or going to get your
nails done. You know some girly stuff.”

“Nah. I have to be honest with you. I don’t
know why I am here. I went to see some folks and I found them
murked in the closet of their apartment.” I continued to break down
the weed and avoid whatever expression Dread had on his face.

“Damn shawty. Someone had it out for them
folks; huh? You ain’t think to call the Feds? You just left them in
the closet? That’s some gangster shit!” I was beginning to regret
ever opening my mouth.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know
about me.” I said trying to shut him up.

“Then humor me and tell me, because you
already got a nigga’s head spinning.”

“Look, I found out this morning someone has
some stuff stirred up with my Dad. My little brother is out of
control, and then my visit to my girl’s house and finding her like
that. This day is a do over. I want to go back to last night and do
this shit differently. You just don’t know the half.”

I had tears seeping from my eyes. I hadn’t
even noticed I had been crying. Too many emotions had consumed me
all at once. Dread took the weed and finished twisting up while I
cried. I cried over all the confusion going on. I sat there smoking
with Dread and he tried to get me to talk. Not about the events of
the day, but about me.

“So, what does YaYa do?” He asked.

“I thought you already knew what YaYa did.
She shops and gets her nails done.” I laughed. “I am really a
Daddy’s girl at heart. He has always taken care of me. Whatever I
wanted he got it for me.”

“Oh, so you a brat huh?” Hey what is your
real name? I am sure your Momma and Daddy ain’t name you YaYa.

“No smart ass, they didn’t name me YaYa. My
father calls me YaYa. My name is YaSheema, since you have to know.”
I answered.

I looked at him and could tell there was so
much tension in the room you could feel it crawling down the walls
and oozing through the noisy heating and cooling unit. It was like
we were both searching for something to say other than the obvious.
Both of us knew we had no business wanting or desiring the other. I
can’t explain it, but I felt safe with him. I felt like I could
tell him all my secrets and they would be safe. He was the comfort
of an old friend.

“I ain’t never heard the name YaSheema
before. That sounds like the name of a chick who’s daddy owns a
carry-out and Papa Son got caught playing in chocolate.” He laughed
snapping me out of my thoughts.

“You better be glad I have heard that shit
so much growing up that it ain’t even funny anymore. Everyone has a
name joke.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you Ms.
YaSheema.”

“No offense taken.”

“Good, because I would hate to upset
you.”

He got up and moved over to where I was
sitting, and made himself comfortable next to me. I felt uneasy
with him being so close to me. He tapped my thigh to pass me the J.
I took a deep long pull and tried to sort out the details of the
day. I had gone to bed with some bullshit brewing, woke up to some
bullshit brewing, and was continuing into my day with a cup that
runneth over with shit. The longer I sat trying to make sense of it
all, the more aggravated I became. I knew I had better get out of
there before I did something else that I would regret. Just as I
was thinking about how I was going to leave, my cell phone began to
vibrate in my purse signaling a text message.

Breaking the uncomfortable silence, I dug
around in my bag to find my phone. I unlocked the screen and it was
a message from Neko. It was only one word, but it was menacing all
the same. It was the scariest three-lettered word I had ever had
the misfortune of reading. It read, “RUN.” Quickly rising to my
feet and startling Dread, I dropped the J in the ashtray and
grabbed my purse from where it was resting.

“I gotta’ go. There is something going on
with my little brother.” I stammered.

“Is everything ok?” Dread asked looking
worried.

“It will be.” I responded as I made my way
out the door. I wasn’t sure about what I just said about it being
ok. Nothing in the whole day had gone right.

I don’t know why I hadn’t done what Neko had
instructed me to do. Instead, I hopped in my ride and started for
Georgetown. Doing way past the legal speed limit, I hit the highway
and floored the gas. I couldn’t think straight. I knew it was
nothing but trouble because Neko had just told me to run after
basically telling me he would do no such thing. I was trying my
best to keep calm and focus on getting home. Finally hitting
Georgetown, I turned on Wisconsin Avenue unaware of the company I
had following me a few car lengths behind.

Pulling into the driveway, nothing seemed
out of order. Daddy’s truck was in the garage, and the door was
open. Daddy did that from time to time when he intended to leave
right out. I suspected that maybe he, Neko and Oscar were on their
way out of the house. Barely putting the car in park, and snatching
the keys from the ignition, I pushed open my door and rushed up the
drive and into the garage bay. I noticed the door leading to the
house from the garage was ajar. Pushing the door open and trying to
enter, the door stopped. There was something blocking it from
opening all the way. I put some force behind it and pushed the door
and heard a loud groan coming from the other side. The grunting
sound caused me step back from the entry way.

“Get help.” Oscar gurgled from the other
side of the door.

I could hear the urgency in his voice, and
it was unlike anything I had ever heard from him before. It made me
force myself to react. I ran out of the garage as fast as my feet
would carry me and made my way to the front door. I was doing too
many things all at once. I was fumbling for the keys and calling
911. The dispatcher came on the line asking me to state the nature
of my emergency.

“My uncle is hurt.” I whispered into the
receiver, not knowing if someone was still lurking around inside
the house just waiting on me. I gave the operator the address and
disconnected the call.

It was the second time that day that I had
walked into some shit. Entering the foyer, I wasn’t prepared for
what came next. All of the artwork that normally neatly lined the
walls of the hallway were laying scattered about the foyer floor. I
crept as quietly as I could in the direction of the garage and
stopped in my tracks. I could hear death ringing in my ears. I was
torn between tending to Oscar, finding Neko and finding Daddy. I
figured I would go to Oscar and he would tell me where to find
Daddy and Neko. I headed to the garage and I could hear my heart
pounding in my chest. It sounded just like a college drum line. I
walked down the hallway and past the dining area. That’s where I
found him. I screamed. I screamed a gut wrenching scream. A scream
so sickening that it would rock one’s entire being.

My father was lying in a pool of blood with
gunshot wounds to his upper torso. He lay there lifeless and cold.
I ran to him and slipped in the pool of blood surrounding him. I
gathered myself as much as one could in a situation like that, and
crawled the rest of the distance to my father’s body. I scooped him
into my arms and cried. I cried for what felt like hours. I held
him and shook him not wanting the shit to be really be happening to
me. I forgot about Neko. I forgot about Oscar too. It was like time
stood still and nothing else seemed to exist. I shook Daddy. I had
tears streaming down my cheeks. I felt a piece of me dying. I knew
my father was dead; but I refused to leave him there to find out if
Neko was dead too. My life flashed before me. I started seeing past
birthdays, and happy moments of my life that Daddy made special for
me. The police found me right in that spot, hugging and rocking
Daddy as if he were a baby.

They immediately started asking me questions
about anyone else being in the house. I listened as more sirens
wailed in the distance. I nodded and pointed to the garage which
was off to the right of where I was sitting with Daddy in my arms.
I looked down at my father’s face and squeezed my eyes real tight
and I swore I heard him talking to me. I heard Daddy call my
name.

“YaYa, you have got to toughen up. Now is
not the time to fall apart. Get your shit together!”

When I opened my eyes, the rest of the
police I had heard in the distance, had entered the house and must
have thought I was in complete shock. They tried their best to
separate me from Daddy’s body and I wasn’t having it without a
fight. I totally flipped out when they pronounced him dead. I
became enraged and tried to attack anyone who got near him. I was
kicking and screaming while they were toe tagging Daddy’s body and
in walked Detective Gatsby. He was the last person I wanted to see.
From the search of the house that was conducted there was no sign
of Neko. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Someone had
stolen my entire world from me and that shit hurt. I didn’t give a
fuck about too many people in life, but my father and my brother
were definitely the two I cared about the most. Now Daddy was dead
and Neko was missing.

Oscar was rushed to the hospital with
gunshot wounds right under his collar bone and in his leg. He had
lost so much blood they weren’t sure if he was going to make it.
Yeah, shit was fucked up. Then I had that detective on my ass
again. Death was following me and it wasn’t hard to tell. I thought
I had tied up any loose ends from Papi, so I had no idea why
someone wanted me dead. It was the kind of shit you saw on the news
and prayed it never happened to anyone you loved. Gatsby questioned
the first officers to respond to the call and they had told him
what they had found up to that moment, which hadn’t been too
much.

The Eastside Nightclub

Half Street